SportsBeat KC

A sports podcast by the Kansas City Star's sports writers and columnists, including in-depth commentary and analysis on the Royals, Chiefs, Sporting KC, FC Kansas City, KU, MU and K-State, Big 12 and the SEC.

The Star's Jesse Newell, Blair Kerkhoff and Vahe Gregorian sat down inside the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., on Wednesday as Maryland held its open practice in advance of the Terps' Sweet 16 game against Kansas on Thursday (about 8:40 p.m. Central on CBS).

The Star's Blair Kerkhoff, in the driver's seat, is joined by passengers Vahe Gregorian and Chris Fickett for a special "on the road" edition previewing KU's first and second round games of the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Star's Rustin Dodd, Sam Mellinger and Pete Grathoff sat down during spring training in Surprise, Ariz., to discuss Yordano Ventura and his path to becoming the Royals' top starting pitcher in 2016, as well as how the 25-man roster is shaping up and more.

Louis Riddick, Bill Polian and Greg Cosell give their impressions of the players the Chiefs held on to in free agency, like Derrick Johnson, Eric Berry and Jaye Howard, and players they let go, like Sean Smith and Jeff Allen.

The Star previews the Big 12 Tournament, which runs Wednesday, March 9 through Saturday, March 12 at the Sprint Center. Blair Kerkhoff, Jesse Newell and Sam Mellinger make predictions, and talk about KU and K-State and more.

The Star's Rustin Dodd, Blair Kerkhoff and Vahe Gregorian sat down in Surprise, Ariz., for another Royals spring training edition of SportsBeat KC, this time focusing on Sal Perez's 5-year, $52.5 million contract extension and more.

The Star's Blair Kerkhoff welcomed Bob Davis to the studio for an interview about Davis' career. Not only has he served as the voice of the Kansas Jayhawks, but also as a broadcaster in Hays, Kan., and in Kansas City, where he also called Royals games. Davis is retiring after the end of the KU basketball season.

In his KC Star podcast debut, new KU beat writer Jesse Newell talks Jayhawks basketball with Blair Kerkhoff, discussing the chances of the Big 12 title streak continuing, what makes Kansas a good team in March and more.

The Star's Terez A. Paylor plays interviews of NFL greats Michael Irvin, Cris Carter and Deion Sanders talking about Chiefs rookie cornerback Marcus Peters. Also in this episode, Bart Scott says he could have won multiple Super Bowls with Alex Smith at quarterback. Terez also has interviews about Jamaal Charles and Mitch Morse.

Rustin Dodd, who covers the Royals for The Kansas City Star, and Star sports columnist Sam Mellinger broke down the team's roster heading into spring training. In part one, Dodd and Mellinger discussed the Royals' key issues.

Rustin Dodd, who covers the Royals for The Kansas City Star, discussed the team's key issues going into spring training. Star sports columnist Sam Mellinger was also in the studio. In part two, Dodd and Mellinger discuss individual players.

Terez A. Paylor was joined by Star sports columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian for another SportsBeat KC episode focused on the Chiefs and their offseason to-do list, which includes re-signing several free agents and improving some position groups. The group also picked Chiefs season award winners.

The Star's Blair Kerkhoff and Tod Palmer discussed the NCAA violations discovered in the Missouri men's basketball program and the effect the self-imposed sanctions will have on the struggling Tigers and coach Kim Anderson. (Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod)

The Chiefs finally won a playoff game. Terez Paylor, Sam Mellinger, Vahe Gregorian and Andy McCullough (in his Kansas City Star swan song) talked about it, previewed the AFC Divisional matchup with the Patriots, played "Who he play for?" and "Old-man football," and more.

In his second-to-last SportsBeat KC appearance as The Kansas City Star's Royals beat reporter, Andy McCullough joined KC Star sports columnist Sam Mellinger to discuss Alex Gordon's four-year, $72 million contract signing with the Royals and more about the team as it prepares to defend its World Series championship.